Page 43 of Consumed
Treading water, Con chuckled. “My parents made me feel ashamed to be naked in a bathtub.”
“The only shame is that some people are too blind to see how stunning you are.”
Those words could have been glib or mocking, but they weren’t. Con looked up into Isaac’s face and saw only sincerity.
And Con reached a decision that felt entirely right, like something finally clicking into place.
He climbed out of the pool using the stairs and came to stand a few feet from Isaac. “Come inside?”
Isaac’s eyes widened. Con could see his pupils dilate, his breath quicken a bit, the corners of his mouth turn slightly upward. “You sure?”
“Categorically so.”
“Oh, thank God.”
Isaac was uncharacteristically clumsy as he scrambled to his feet, and neither of them kept much dignity as they hurried inside. Con led Isaac directly to his bedroom. In tandem, they took off their wet trunks and let them fall onto the tile floor. Con would have done the same even if it had been a priceless Persian carpet.
They had seen each other mostly naked before, but not completely and certainly not with this degree of anticipation. With the way Isaac gazed at him, Con felt desirable and handsome and strong. Not embarrassed. Not shameful.
Isaac’s dick twitched and began to rise, which is when Con remembered he wasn’t constrained to looking. Isaac wasn’t a painting; he was a flesh-and-blood man, impetuous, sometimes careless, often impatient. And also brave and loyal and funny and accepting. Con was allowed to touch, especially now that he was opening himself to all that Isaac had offered.
They moved into a tight embrace. Areas of their skin were warm from the outside heat while others were still chilled from the water. Isaac felt solid against him, smooth in places and softly furred in others. His hands traced over Con’s body without discriminating between the parts that were damaged and the parts that were whole.
Con let his fingers wander too. He immersed himself in the novelty of feeling a body that wasn’t his own. Isaac had a very fine butt, rounded and silky to the touch. His back was broad. Con ran his palm down Isaac’s spine, counting the vertebrae as if he were collecting them.
Isaac leaned in impossibly closer and mouthed at the juncture of Con’s neck and shoulder. Tongue and lips mostly, but a gentle bit of teeth as well. Knees a little weak, Con traced the fresh scar on Isaac’s shoulder and enjoyed the sensation of floating.
“I think I need to lie down.” Isaac may have said that for Con’s benefit, but if so, Con didn’t mind. It was an excellent idea. So then they were atop the colorful quilt, facing each other, exploring each other with eyes and fingertips.
“Tell me what you want,” whispered Isaac.
“I’m going to disappoint you. You were fooling around with famous painters when you were still a teenager, and I—”
“Will never disappoint me. There are no rules here, Conny, except respect each other’s wants and needs. And I guarantee you,anythingyou do with me is going to be right. Never perfect, although we can always try for that, butright.”
Experimentally, Con touched Isaac’s brown nipple. It hardened and Isaac gave a breathless little gasp. “Have I mentioned that I have several erogenous zones, and they are all exquisitely sensitive?”
“I’m not sure whether I have any.”
“Shall we find out?”
As it turned out, Con did.
That afternoon, they didn’t do anything too fancy. Just hands and mouths judiciously applied. But that was enough—more than enough—and Isaac laughed and moaned and begged, and Con shuddered and groaned, and they moved together like dancers. Con never for a moment felt weak or sinful.
“Yes, please,” Isaac rasped when Con stroked him just right. Isaac was stroking him back, but it was those words that finally did it, sending Con spinning over the edge and into the star-spangled heavens.
Sticky, sweaty, sated, they cuddled together on Con’s bed. “A nap is called for,” Isaac announced, then yawned.
“A nap, then dinner.”
“A nap, then dinner, then a second round?”
Con chuckled. “A nap, dinner, second round, and you stay the night.”
“This is the best negotiation ever.”
This felt so… correct. As if everything in the universe had been built to put him like this, nestled against Isaac, who smelled of chlorine and sex. The only guilt in Con’s heart was that he hadn’t done this sooner. He’d wasted weeks.
